The children nominate danger road
Discussion
From the Bath Chronicle
OUR DANGER ROAD SHAME
TRANSPORT campaigners have named a Bath street as one of the most hazardous in the country.
By Rachael Sugden
A report today highlights Julian Road as the most difficult for children to cross in the south west.
Speeding drivers, lack of crossings and double-parked delivery trucks have all helped give the busy commuter route its unenviable title.
Council officials are now looking at how to improve the safety and appearance of the road amid concern for the safety of children at St Andrew?s Primary School and shoppers.
Residents and schoolchildren believe the lack of safety measures has created a treacherous road that people are frightened to cross.
A group of ten-year-olds at the school nominated the street in a competition led by pressure group Transport 2000.
Organisers hope the competition will highlight the national problem of lack of crossing facilities on routes to schools, shops and play areas.
St Andrew's headteacher Sue Dixon hopes the competition win will speed up the process of implementing Bath and North East Somerset Council plans.
Year 5 children used information from a geography project to give evidence to a panel of councillors earlier this year.
Mrs Dixon said: "They explained to the panel how difficult it was to cross the road as the councillors were considering a road safety scheme drawn up by consultants.
"The children also used that as part of their English persuasive writing studies for them to enter the competition. They detailed all the problems facing pedestrians trying to cross the road by the school.
"What we would like to see happen now is the recommendations made by consultants to improve safety in the area be put into action."
Signs warning drivers the school is in a 20mph zone have been in place for months, but campaigners believe they are ignored.
Their design, incorporating a cartoon snail, has also been criticised by heritage groups who believe they are inappropriate in a World Heritage City.
The improvement measures suggested for Julian Road include the removal of road signs and white lines to confuse drivers into cutting their speed.
Architects Jeremy Johnson-Marshall and Ben Hamilton-Baillie put forward their plans to remove lines and other road markings earlier this year.
Similar ideas are being looked at by the Department of Transport across the country.
Mr Hamilton-Baillie is inspired by Holland, Sweden and Denmark, which already use what are known as psychological measures to slow down traffic, with some schemes even removing traffic lights at junctions.
He said conventional traffic calming signs had made no difference to road safety in the area.
B & NES, which is still considering whether to adopt the unorthodox scheme, will now be told by Transport 2000 about the daily dangers youngsters face.
Mrs Dixon added: "I haven't got a crystal ball so I really don't know what the outcome of this will be, but I really hope the competition has made a difference."
The title of worst road in the country was won jointly by main roads in Shepperton, south west London, and in Dudley in the West Midlands.
Julia Thomas, Streets for People co-ordinator for Transport 2000, said: "There is a climate of fear, intimidation and danger at the roadside through the UK."
The survey coincides with the launch of an academy to train volunteers to deliver essential road safety education to communities across the UK.
Aimed primarily at making streets safer for youngsters, the academy is being set up by road safety charity Brake and delivery company FedEx.
Volunteers will receive training from Brake road safety experts and will become academy "graduates" in a particular road safety topic. These graduates will then pass on practical advice to thousands of road users.
Brake chief executive Mary Williams said: "We know thousands of people want to improve road safety in their communities, but they often don't know where to start."
"The academy is open to anyone who can volunteer their time to help others."
She said the academy hoped to train nearly 300 volunteers in its first year.
Cllr Sir Elgar Jenkins, B & NES portfolio holder for transport and highways, said: "I dispute that it's the most dangerous road in the south west.
"But we are not happy with the lay-out of Julian Road as it is. We are looking at ways in which we can improve it."
OUR DANGER ROAD SHAME
TRANSPORT campaigners have named a Bath street as one of the most hazardous in the country.
By Rachael Sugden
A report today highlights Julian Road as the most difficult for children to cross in the south west.
Speeding drivers, lack of crossings and double-parked delivery trucks have all helped give the busy commuter route its unenviable title.
Council officials are now looking at how to improve the safety and appearance of the road amid concern for the safety of children at St Andrew?s Primary School and shoppers.
Residents and schoolchildren believe the lack of safety measures has created a treacherous road that people are frightened to cross.
A group of ten-year-olds at the school nominated the street in a competition led by pressure group Transport 2000.
Organisers hope the competition will highlight the national problem of lack of crossing facilities on routes to schools, shops and play areas.
St Andrew's headteacher Sue Dixon hopes the competition win will speed up the process of implementing Bath and North East Somerset Council plans.
Year 5 children used information from a geography project to give evidence to a panel of councillors earlier this year.
Mrs Dixon said: "They explained to the panel how difficult it was to cross the road as the councillors were considering a road safety scheme drawn up by consultants.
"The children also used that as part of their English persuasive writing studies for them to enter the competition. They detailed all the problems facing pedestrians trying to cross the road by the school.
"What we would like to see happen now is the recommendations made by consultants to improve safety in the area be put into action."
Signs warning drivers the school is in a 20mph zone have been in place for months, but campaigners believe they are ignored.
Their design, incorporating a cartoon snail, has also been criticised by heritage groups who believe they are inappropriate in a World Heritage City.
The improvement measures suggested for Julian Road include the removal of road signs and white lines to confuse drivers into cutting their speed.
Architects Jeremy Johnson-Marshall and Ben Hamilton-Baillie put forward their plans to remove lines and other road markings earlier this year.
Similar ideas are being looked at by the Department of Transport across the country.
Mr Hamilton-Baillie is inspired by Holland, Sweden and Denmark, which already use what are known as psychological measures to slow down traffic, with some schemes even removing traffic lights at junctions.
He said conventional traffic calming signs had made no difference to road safety in the area.
B & NES, which is still considering whether to adopt the unorthodox scheme, will now be told by Transport 2000 about the daily dangers youngsters face.
Mrs Dixon added: "I haven't got a crystal ball so I really don't know what the outcome of this will be, but I really hope the competition has made a difference."
The title of worst road in the country was won jointly by main roads in Shepperton, south west London, and in Dudley in the West Midlands.
Julia Thomas, Streets for People co-ordinator for Transport 2000, said: "There is a climate of fear, intimidation and danger at the roadside through the UK."
The survey coincides with the launch of an academy to train volunteers to deliver essential road safety education to communities across the UK.
Aimed primarily at making streets safer for youngsters, the academy is being set up by road safety charity Brake and delivery company FedEx.
Volunteers will receive training from Brake road safety experts and will become academy "graduates" in a particular road safety topic. These graduates will then pass on practical advice to thousands of road users.
Brake chief executive Mary Williams said: "We know thousands of people want to improve road safety in their communities, but they often don't know where to start."
"The academy is open to anyone who can volunteer their time to help others."
She said the academy hoped to train nearly 300 volunteers in its first year.
Cllr Sir Elgar Jenkins, B & NES portfolio holder for transport and highways, said: "I dispute that it's the most dangerous road in the south west.
"But we are not happy with the lay-out of Julian Road as it is. We are looking at ways in which we can improve it."
For anybody that doesn't know Bath, this road is a narrow street halfway up a hill that goes from the centre to a residential area, past a large park. It has several side turnings and a line of shops. THere are always cars parked down one side and there are often lorries unloading.
It is completely impossible to exceed the speed limit in this street. There is no history of accidents there. However, along the stretch which goes past the park there are no car parking restrictions, so it's one of the last refuges of people who come into Bath from outlying areas and don't want to have to pay £10 to park in order to do a day's work. It's a good 15 minute walk into the centre from here.
These are the people that T2000 are really targetting. I'm quite sure they will be lobbying to have parking restrictions imposed on this stretch (the road widens here and the parkers cause no inconvenence whatsoever). Using children to further your political agenda is utterly sickening.
It is completely impossible to exceed the speed limit in this street. There is no history of accidents there. However, along the stretch which goes past the park there are no car parking restrictions, so it's one of the last refuges of people who come into Bath from outlying areas and don't want to have to pay £10 to park in order to do a day's work. It's a good 15 minute walk into the centre from here.
These are the people that T2000 are really targetting. I'm quite sure they will be lobbying to have parking restrictions imposed on this stretch (the road widens here and the parkers cause no inconvenence whatsoever). Using children to further your political agenda is utterly sickening.
bridge for the pedestrains!!! or put in a pedestrian crossing. Julia Thomas - Streets for People co-ordinator for Transport 2000 said:
There is a climate of fear, intimidation and danger at the roadside through the UK.
If only there was, then maybe we'd get pedestrians that aren't so likely to step out into the road without paying any attention to the large metal objects bearing down on them.
>> Edited by d-man on Tuesday 7th September 10:09
Bath Chronicle said:
Organisers hope the competition will highlight the national problem of lack of crossing facilities on routes to schools, shops and play areas.
That may be sensible. Even lollipop men are becoming an endangered species now.
Bath Chronicle said:
The improvement measures suggested for Julian Road include the removal of road signs and white lines to confuse drivers into cutting their speed.
Surely an inappropriate word? "Confused" drivers are hardly likely to be safer?
Bath Chronicle said:
He said conventional traffic calming signs had made no difference to road safety in the area.
Now there's a useful quote!
Bath Chronicle said:
Julia Thomas, Streets for People co-ordinator for Transport 2000, said: "There is a climate of fear, intimidation and danger at the roadside through the UK."
Really? I don't find that in my area. However, I guess it has more to do with....
Bath Chronicle said:
The survey coincides with the launch of an academy to train volunteers to deliver essential road safety education to communities across the UK.
Aimed primarily at making streets safer for youngsters, the academy is being set up by road safety charity Brake and delivery company FedEx.
First Green Flag is entangled with Brake, and now FedEx.
So really the whole thing is to use children to get publicity for a Brake initiative. Will it be road safety education, or anti-car propaganda? Anyone volunteer to go along and find out?
Bath Chronicle said:
A report today highlights Julian Road as the most difficult for children to cross in the south west.
.............concern for the safety of ...........
Residents and schoolchildren believe the lack of safety measures has created a treacherous road that people are frightened to cross.
Mrs Dixon said: "They explained to the panel how difficult it was to cross the road......."
Julia Thomas, Streets for People co-ordinator for Transport 2000, said: "There is a climate of fear, intimidation and danger at the roadside through the UK."
Fear and intimidation is due to lack of education.
When I was a kid we were taught the Green Cross code by Darth Vader dressed in a spandex super-hero suit
Nowadays the idea of teaching children seems to gone out the window, and the emphasis put on removing all and every hazard to the nth degree.
What I find of great concern, is the creepy way Transport 2000 and other similar groups are trying to brainwash the populace by getting them at a young age, before they can form opinions of their own.
They are making suggestions to children in such a way as to program-in the thought that "speed is somehow dangerous" and that no deeper thought need be applied.
Using competitions / making it "fun" is disgraceful mind control.
By the way, a few days ago I crossed the race track at Goodwood, while the racing was underway. I used something called...."a bridge".
They are making suggestions to children in such a way as to program-in the thought that "speed is somehow dangerous" and that no deeper thought need be applied.
Using competitions / making it "fun" is disgraceful mind control.
By the way, a few days ago I crossed the race track at Goodwood, while the racing was underway. I used something called...."a bridge".
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